Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The dog, the tapir, the macaw and the missing monkey.

This is Rex.
He used to be a stray in town, but now lives in a nice jungle lodge in the Brazilian Amazon. No one ever calls him Rex though because, in Brazil, his name is pronounced Hex.

Hex is still a pup.
He spends his days sleeping in the sun, chewing empty plastic bottles and entertaining the tourists that stay at the lodge.
Sometimes, he steals a slipper if they're not careful to hide them away. Mostly though, he just runs around his very...
...very...
...very big backyard.

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 This is Romeo.
He's a tapir and lives with Hex at the lodge. No one ever calls him Romeo though because [you guessed it], in Brazil, his name is pronounced Ho-may-o.

Ho-may-o's mama was killed by a hunter when he was a baby. The hunter didn't kill Ho-may-o though. He decided to bring him home instead. One day, the hunter had to leave the jungle. He couldn't take Ho-may-o with him, so he brought him to the lodge.

Ho-may-o isn't a pet. He gets to roam anywhere he likes and sometimes goes off into the jungle by himself for long walks. Ho-may-o is still young too. One day when he's older, he may want to go off into the jungle to look for a girlfriend. He'll have to be very careful not to meet any hunters if he does that.

Here are some pictures of Ho-may-o getting chubby ticks picked off him.
As you can see, he quite enjoys it.

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This is Menina.
 Menina is a macaw.
Funnily enough, her name is pronounced exactly as it's spelt and means "little girl".

Menina walks everywhere.
And climbs up things with the help of her beak.
No one's quite sure why she can't fly.
 Not being able to fly could be the reason why Menina is One Grouchy Bird That Likes To Peck Things..
To stop her destroying the lodge, Menina gets put on a tree every morning
so she can just work on destroyng the tree instead.

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Every morning, Ho-may-o gets a big pile of leftovers for his brekkie. That makes Hex jealous so he has to be tied up when Ho-may-o's eating.
Everyone thinks this is very funny except Hex.
This is what happens when Hex doesn't get tied up.
Ho-may-o is a lot bigger than Hex and could probably kill the silly little bugger by smacking him with his snout. But he doesn't.

[Or at least, hasn't yet.]

In fact, it's Hex who can be a bit snarky and likes to show Ho-may-o who's boss.
Poor Ho-may-o.
He's too tranquilo for his own good.
Ho-may-o has simple habits. He has his brekkie, snoozes, wakes up for a walk and goes down to the river to Do Stuff.

One day, The Other Half was sunning on the deck
when Ho-may-o turned up. Being a [self-described] Dr Doolittle, he managed to persuade Ho-may-o to go swimming with him! He couldn't believe his luck! Unfortunately, no one was close enough to take any pictures of this once-in-a-lifetime event.

The Other Half was so thrilled by the whole thing, he didn't even mind that they'd been swimming near where Ho-may-o had Done Stuff.
Which also happened to be just around the corner from where we washed our clothes.
It's very easy to slip into the simple rhythm of life in the Amazon [or at least, the life of a tourist in the Amazon]
and we were muito triste when it was time to leave.


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Oh yes, the monkey.

The monkey used to live at the lodge with Hex, Ho-may-o and Menina. Her name was Conchita. She disappeared about a month before we got there. No one knows exactly what happened, though there's a rumour that she was abducted by some suspicious woman. Everyone is sad and worried and hopes that Conchita just went looking for a boyfriend and didn't end up in a pot.

Here's a picture of Conchita in happier days.
This picture was taken from this site.


Some rANdom biTs.
On the way to the lodge from Manaus, we saw the way Hex must have lived before he became the luckiest dog in Brazil.
We met some other animals too. I don't think I've ever seen a chicken like this before.
But I'm guessing it's related to this breed of Naked Necks.
This picture is from this blog, which has a very interesting read about these chickens.

Most people find this surprising, but it's not easy to spot wild animals in the Amazon.

Looking for caimans by the banks of a muddy river, in the pitch-black, in a smallish wooden boat prone to filling up with water was definitely more scary than looking at them from the road in the Pantanal [see previous post].
Despite Aprijo's efforts at tarring the boats...

...this was a daily ritual before setting out.
After it was all over, we learnt that the black caimans in the area, unlike their fish-eating cousins in the Pantanal, are not adverse to a little human in their diet. This may be fable. However, it's a sad fact that black caimans themselves have been hunted to near extinction by humans for their leather and meat.

Lucky Johnny didn't fall in the water.

One night, we camped in the jungle.
Surprisingly, there were no mozzies. Sadly, there were no jaguars either. And it was strangely comfortable. We slept like babies.

When we got back to Manaus, the capital of Amazonas and the city where we started and ended our trip to the Amazon, we climbed a tree.


I had the dubious distinction of being the very 1st person ever to be attacked by bees while hanging 30metres off the ground.

Apart from that, it was a lot of fun.

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"Hey Francesca, some food please. I'm peckish."
In some ways, a tapir is a lot like a dog.

"Hey Cushion, what're you making?"
"A caipirinha? What's that? Some food please. I'm peckish."


A Caipirinha Recipe
from our pousada in Rio.


Thanks, Lance.

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A 2005 report on bushmeat consumption in South America:


25 comments:

Jan said...

While pampered house dogs don't want to be stray dogs, I think they would enjoy the freedom of running around outside with no leashes and a lot of exotic animal friends around.

rottrover said...

WOW!! I have to catch up. I love Ho-me-o!!

Anonymous said...

Swimming in 'giant pig' poo & getting attacked by Amazonian Killer Bees and you don't have photos of these events, what kind of adventure holiday do you call that.

You could always recreate these memorable moments with photo-shop.

Thanks for the trip up-date, looking forward to seeing more of your traveler's tails, be happy & well, best rgds STeve

Pamela said...

Loved hearing more about your trip. And the macaws, tapirs, and caimans were only topped by that "peckish" beauty at the end.

bermtopia said...

I need a tapir in the kitchen. (Doesn't everyone?) I think it would elevate my pie crust to a new level.

What Remains Now said...

More, please. I can't get enough of your Brazilian adventure. Ho-may-o and Hex are very cute together. Good to see a picture of the lovely Georgia too. Can't wait to get an update on what she's been doing.

Jean B said...

Great post! I've never seen even a picture of a tapir - looks something like a cross between a potbellied pig, a hippo and a donkey???? So cute.

houndstooth said...

I am not sure I'd like to live in the Amazon, but I think it would be fun to visit! It doesn't look like you'd ever be lonely!

Bunny

verobirdie said...

Great report! Now I doon't want to gonto work, sigh :-)

booahboo said...

two posts already... wait wait.. i haven't even read the earlier one. Be back soonest :p

booahboo said...

I am actually quite afraid of murky river water... as i fear for crocs.. we have loads here in the rivers in some places.. and these crocs are hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... so i salute you and your other half for being the very very adventurous :)

booahboo said...

we have tapirs in black and white here..they kinda look like they are wearing diapers.. the sumatran tapirs :) i have only seen them in a zoo... shows how adventurous i am :p

booahboo said...

i am commenting a lot of times on this post as i am on a low sugar high.. whatever that means.. and lack of caffeine.. and and.. lack of sleep.. urmm... forget my jibberish.. i'll be back when i am sane :)

booahboo said...

i forgots i am hardly ever sane.. i probably need some fish soup from the Pantanal :D

georgia little pea said...

ANNY!!! YOU ARE NUTS! AND DEFINITELY DO NOT NEED FISH SOUP *BOL* go get some sleep love :) x

June said...

What a trip...
I am so glad you took all these photos.

sonia a. mascaro said...

Wow! Love seeing your photos and description of your Brazilian adventure! Rex looks so sweet and Romeo looks so friendly, too.
You are very courageous to climbed a tree hanging 30metres off the ground.
How scary was to be attacked by bees!
I am looking forward to more of your Brazilian trip. Thanks for sharing.

Elizabeth Keene said...

I didn't appreciate how large Homey is until the kitchen photos. Wow. And I just googled Tapir (although I have seen them in US zoos) to discover that they are classified as vulnerable and threatened. So sad. I hope Homey doesn't ever want a girlfriend.

All those animals around would make me giddy - except for the man-eating crocs...and angry bees. What fantastic memories!

P.S. I am slightly nauseated from seeing the stuff.

georgia little pea said...

Elizabeth of The Gusty Farts - nauseated by a few floaties? HA!

Karen Friesecke said...

Swimming in the Amazon with a Tapir. Does it get any better than that for a holiday experience? I don't think that I would have had the guts to go in. You know, crocodiles and stuff...

booahboo said...

tranquiloooooooooooooo :p didya bring any fish back for us to make soup?

Kristine said...

Thanks for the recipe! I am always looking for new cocktails to try. Er, not that I am a lush or anything.... Ahem.

Your holiday sounds like a dream! Embarrassingly, I hadn't even heard of a Tapir before and had to google it. Very cool. Now I kind of want one. In fact, I kind of want Hex too. Menina can stay there in the Amazon. Super-intelligent birds like macaws terrify me!

47 said...

Wow, that's quite the adventure! I did wonder what a tapir and a monkey had to do with a dog...

Greyhounds CAN Sit said...

This post did slip under the radar! All has been revealed now:). What awesome photos and stories. Hex sure had it good compared to the other dogs. I don't envy your bee sting experience! Or The Cushions swimming in Tapir poop either:)

chandra said...

Okay, so I've just unpacked from a move from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles and I thought I was thrilled with my new location. So I start here on catching up on my big pile of blog reading and what do I find? I WANT TO LIVE AT THE LODGE with Hex, Ho-may-o and Menina!!!

Looking forward to reading the rest of your adventure posts ... but it's going to take awhile, I can't stop petting my computer screen. Ho-may-o ... good boy.

c at ddy.

p.s. thanks for the note on daley's date of passing. the big hug was much appreciated.